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livs: thanks for IN MEM. At the time of asking, I was looking for one word of 5 letters - hence my question.

And by the way, this puzzle is so poor (IMO) that anyone giving direct answers here (as IN MEM) need not wear the sackcloth and ashes etc.

Thanks James. I've now slipped into something a little more comfortable

I'm late ... thank goodness.

The object of a cryptic crossword is to make it difficult to solve, but, when you have it, you should KNOW you have it. Not so here.

I have most of it finished, with a few "loose" answers. Er, many "loose" answers. And nine to go.

In 9A, is Blair's room his house, and is the head a short parrot name? I doubt it, as the whole clue makes little sense unless you suffer from hay fever.

9A makes perfect sense when you see it Pendragon...the Blair in question is better known by another name

Forget the parrot (which was right) - I have it. Numbers not letters.

Have to agree with others who said they didn't enjoy this very much - least enjoyable Genius I have attempted. Managed all but 3 before word-count amendments were made.but am stuck on:

11ac. Champagne's drunk, I think (7) E?M?E?S

24ac. Leading lady defends short fitting (5) ??E?R

22d. Regret getting stripped (4) A???

Can anyone confirm that I have the correct letters or not - any hints gratefully accepted. Thanks in advance.

AH! Works every time - as soon as help is asked for the answer pops into view - or in this case 2 out of 3 answers. 22 & 24 sorted - 11ac. still to go.

You've got the first letter wrong in 11A RH142...

brand of champers around a word expressing hesitation

Thanks ixion - I had "sheet" for the first word which went well with the second word - but unfortunately had one S too many and one M too few for the anagram fodder. I checked this several times and didn't spot my mistake.

All finished now, but I'm still not happy with 24A. I have a word (the only one that will fit), and it includes the key-word, but I can't parse it. And yes, I've seen the two entries above. Any hints please?